Fake degree scam: ED attaches assets of MBU, Manav Bharti trust

New Delhi

An ED official here said that the agency has attached moveable and immovable properties in the form of land, residential and commercial buildings worth Rs 186.44 crore located in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and six FDs totalling Rs 7.72 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED has registered a case on the basis of FIRs registered by Himachal Pradesh Police against Rana and others.

The official said that during investigation it was revealed that Rana started this scam of issuance of fake degrees in the name of MBU in 2009 from his office in Haryana's Karnal.

The proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 387 crore generated from issuance of fake degrees were invested by Rana in several properties in his name as well as in the name of his son Mandeep Rana and other family members.

"It has come out that these properties were undervalued, so that illegal cash proceeds may be adjusted. Thereafter one more university, namely Madhav University in Rajasthan's Sirohi, was constructed by Rana through the illegal proceeds generated from issuance of fake degrees," the official said.

He said that the proceeds of crime were indirectly utilised via channelling through the bank accounts of the MBU, Solan and Manav Bharti Charitable Trust for construction of Manav Bharti University.

"Moreover the loans availed for construction of MBU was majorly repaid in the form of cash deposits in banks, which were nothing but illegal proceeds generated from issuance of fake degrees," he said.

The official further said that the illegal proceeds deposited into the bank accounts of MBU, Solan and Manav Bharti Charitable Trust were falsely shown as academic receipts in the books of accounts and hence inflated to show them as genuine proceeds.